Fuel-economizer.



E. R. PHILLIPS.

FUEL EOONOMIZER.

APPLICATION FILED 001. 19, 1908.

3 1 73, Patented May 3,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. R. PHILLIPS. FUEL EGONOMIZEB. APPLIOATIDH FILED 001'. 19, 1908.

2 SHEBTSBHEET 2.

Patented May 3, 1910.

WIT/M3555:

Q/Z LM starts.

R E. PHILLIPS, OF EL PASO, TAS.

FUEL-E0021 OMIZER.

To all whom it may concern: It

Be it known that I, EDWIN R. Pmnmrs, a citizen of the United States, residing at El Paso, in the county of El Paso and State of Texas, have invented new and useful I 1nprovements in Fuel-Econ'omizers, of WlllCh the following is a specification.

My inventlon relates to fuel economlzers, and pertains especially to draft regulating appliances for use with locomotive and other boilers.

In firing under a boiler it has always been dificult to regulate the air supply necessary for combustion so as to at the right quantity of air at the right time to produce the best results. In the admission of air above the flames of a furnace immediately after firing, the trouble has been to control the air so that a known quantity might quickly reach the distilled gases for their combustion, and then be able gradually to cut off the air as the fire becomes incandescent toward the coke stage, so that as the fire reaches this stage the upper air will be out 01f entirely, burning the coke through the grate alone. I have provided a simple, practical arrangement by which I am able to efiect this control of the air, and my invention has other objects and advantages, as will be made manifest hereinafter.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combination of parts sa hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the'aocompa-ny ing drawings, in whichigurel is a front view of boiler-head.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the fire-box and air heater. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view of cylinder and piston. Fig. 5 is a detail section on line 55 of Fig. 3.

While I have shown the invention as applied particularly to a locomotive boiler, it will be manifest that it is applicable under any type of boiler where an air control such. as the present. invention comprehends is applicabl A represents the boiler of a locomotive, 2 the combustion chamber, and 3 a brick arch arran ed in the combustion. chamber andexten mg abovethe fire and alsd over the air-heating box 4:.

The arrangement of the air-box 4, and the means for controlling the entry of air thereinto for the purposes of facilitating combustion, constitute themain features of the present invention.

In the arrangement here shown of the airbox as applied to the fire-box of a locomotive, the air-box is disposed at the front of the fire-box and air is admitted thereinto Patented May a, rare.

through one or more air-pipes 5. The walls of the air-box are made of e-brick or other suitable material, and suitably reinforced or held in position by water-pipes orother appropriate means. The interior of the lower portion of the air-boa which is in communication with the inlet pipes 5 is divided" into fiues 6 which open upward into a superheater and expansion chamber 7, which latter is partly arched over, as represented at 8, near the bottom of the doors 9, and the top of the superheater chamber .7 has a series of air outlets 10 discharging into the firebox above the fuel. The area of the lines 6 is preferably greater than the area' of the air outlets 10, and the size and disposition of the super heater chamber 7 are such that the air will measurably back up into the superheater or expansion chamber 7 before escaping into the fire-box. Also it is to be noted that the bricks forming the walls of the superheated air outlets 10 are arranged at a considerable incline and are protected more or less by the shelf 8, so that coal fed into the furnace will not fall through the air openings.

The overhanging arch 3 extends from above the door to a point just behind the bridge wall at the rear of the grates and operates to prevent the gases coming in contact with the boiler. This overhanging arch assists in retaining at a very high temperature the released gases from the fuel, and also superheats the air as it escapes into the firebox from the air-box d.

In order to efiect perfect combustion of the carbon, it is essential that the chamber into which the gas escapes is surrounded by as many superheated walls as possible to prevent cooling of the hydrocarbon gas.

In order to render this system of air heatingand air feed efiectlve, some means must be provided by which the amount of air admitted to the fire-box and over the fuelafter each charge of freshcoal, can be definitely regulated. It is therefor that I provide the following means: The doors 9 are here shown as ordinary sliding doors working in suitable guidesll and operated by a well-known arrangement of levers l213. Each door 1 carried on a rocker one or more swinging arms lti'an one or more air inlets 5 with corresponding dampers 18 and mediate connectionsbetween a swinging1 arm and a corres onding damper, and as t e parts for each tially alike, I shall merely descrlbe one swinging arm and its connections with its damper. The arm 19 with the vertical slide 20 working 1n suitable guides 21. The slide 20 is connected by suitable means, as the rod or wire 22, with the damper 18 which controls an inlet to the airbox 4. With the arrangement here shown, when a door 9 is opened its roller 14 strikes the spring 15 which yields enough to avoid shock and 131 and causes the arm 16 to rock, lifting the slide 20 and opening the damper 18.

In order to eflect a slow closing movement of the damper, I provide appropriate means,

' as follows: 23 is a fluid cylmder preferably The necte damper or containing oil, in which a piston 24 operates.

piston hast a rod 25 extending out throu h one head of the cylinder and conby a bracket 26 with the slide 20. The piston 24 it provided with valves 27 which will openwhen the piston 1s lifted and allow the fluid to flow rapidly from the space above the piston and through the plston to the space below. When the door 9 1s closed, the weight of the moving parts will leave the piston free to fall again, but the return ottthe fluid from the lower end to the upper end of the cylindertakes place through a restricted port or bypass 28 inwhich is interposed a regulating valve 29. The speed with which the iston falls, and with which the air-valve or amper 18 closes, is regulated by the valve 29. It is understood that the fluid cylinder 23 is merely a convenient form of check or brake to regulate the period of closing of the damper 18, and it is manifest that various equivalent devices could be used to effect the same ends.

In 0 eration, when it is desired to fire under t e boiler, the doors 9 are opened. As the doors open, the roller 14 causes the arm 16 to rock and dampers 18. This lets in the air to the air-box 4 where it rapidly becomes heated by contact with thehot bricks. lln

the swinging upward of the arm 16 to open the damper, the slide 20 is carried upward, and with it it carries the piston 24, which latter moves throu h the fluid in the cylinder by reason of the rec opening of the valves 2 When the doors are closed, the air drafts through the box 4: and over the top of the coal in the furnace continue until such oor are substan-.

16 is connected by a link lift the slide 20 and open the.

eavhra time as the pistbn 2d falls back to the bottom of the cylinder and closes the valve 18. The time that it takes the piston 2 1 to travel through the cylinder by gravity is regulated by the valve 29, and this is done in accordance with the time-necessar to efiect proper combustion of the distille gases "from the fresh coal and reduce the coal to a coke stage. At that time the damper is closed, the top feed of air into the furnace is discontinued through the box 1, and thereafter the coke is burned by mixing with the air which comes through the grates alone.

With a given quantity of coal ted to the furnace each time, it is readily determined what quantity through the air-box and for how long a time after the doors are closed.

Having thus described my invention, what l[ claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat- 'ent is- 1. The combination of a boiler and a firebox, a door therefor, an air-heating box within the fire-box and adjacent to and below the door, a protecting shelf between the door and the outlet end of the air-heating box, an arch in the fire-box arranged at an incline and extending from a point above and adjacent to the door downwardly to ward the rear of the fire-box, said arch oper atlng to prevent the gases coming in contact with the boiler and assisting 111 retain ing at a very high temperature the released -gasesfromthe fuel, and also super-heating the air as it escapes into the fire-box from the air-box, said air-heating box having an air inlet near the bottom, vertical flues in the air-heating box and an e ansion chamber near the top of said box into which the flues discharge, the hot air being let into the fire-box above the fuel, and means controlled by the door for admitting air into the airheating box.

2. The combination of a boiler. and its firebox, a door therefor, an air-heating boxin the fire-box and below and adjacent to the door, said air-heating box having an air inlet near its bottom, vertical flues in the airheating box and an expansion chamber within said box into which the flues deliver, said expansion chamber having a cover ot bricks inclined downwardly and inwardly within the furnace and below the door, said bricks having air outlets between them, through which outlets the heated air from said expansion chamber escapes into the fire box above the fuel, means for admitting air into the air-heating box, an arch in the firebox arran ed at an incline and extending substantia y diagonally through the firebox from a point substantially over the door to the boiler, and dividing the fire-box into two chambers, said arch assistin in retaining at a hi h tern erature the re eased gases fiom the el, an super-heating the air as of air should be admitted it escapes into the fire-box from the air-heat ing box..

3. The combination of a boiler and its firebox,'a plurality of slidable doors closing a charging opening in the fire-box, an air-box within the fire-box, and adjacent to, parallel with, and below the door, said air-box having inlets at its lower end, coacting dampers controlling said inlets, the air-box being provided with an expansion or superheating chamber having constricted outlets, means for protecting said outlets and preventing their becoming clogged, said doors being connected to open simultaneously, means carried by each door whereby the dampers are lifted synchronously, and means governing the lowering of said dampers.

4:. The combination with a boiler and its fire-box, of an air-box located at the front lower corner of the fire-box and having a superheating chamber from which air is directed upwardly and rearwardly through inclined passages whose combined area 15 less than the area of inlet fines of the superheating chamber, slidable doors for closing a charging opening of the fire-box, dampers for controlling the admission of air into the air-box, said doors being connected by a link and lever, whereby they are operable in unison, and each being adapted to engage flexible members secured upon pivoted arms,

said arms being linked to rods upon each of which said dampers are secured, whereby when said doors are opened the dampers are actuated, and means adapted to govern the descent of the dampers, said means including a cylinder, a piston having suitable valves reciprocal in said cylinder and a rod secured to said piston, and an arm carried by said piston-rod, the outer end of said arm being guided in a suitable slide and carrying said damper-rod.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWIN R. PHILLIPS. Vfitnesses:

L. C. JosLIN, EUGENE E. HOUSEMAN. 

